Hinata's heart jolted again, thunderstruck.
It was him. Blonde hair and tan skin and sky blue eyes. Kneeling down at her side, his hand on her shoulder. His hand.
She forgot herself, seizing it. She traced the lunulae of his fingernails, the lines of his knuckles, and the warm rosy skin of his palms. She pressed her shaking fingers to his wrist, eyes widening at the gentle ebb and flow of a pulse.
Hinata slowly drank in his face, rubbing her eyes over and over. It wasn't a dream. He wasn't a dream. Dreams weren't solid.
It was him.
It was.
The greatest Hokage who never was.
He was as she had seen him last, three dark lines on either cheek, spiky golden hair, ever so slightly taller than her, just enough for her to rest her chin against his shoulder.
But the blood and bruises had cleared.
His eyes were glowing. Brilliant, vibrant, forget-me-not forever blue.
Death had been very kind to him. It had made him lovelier than ever.
"Hinata, long time, no see." He grinned at her, then, that grin in which he squeezed his eyes shut and let her see all of his teeth.
Those dreams of hers had distorted his voice ever so slightly each time. This was his true voice, warm and low and somewhat scratchy.
All this time, she'd been staring at his back, trying to catch up to him and walk with him, side by side.
No longer.
She closed the distance separating them.
He let her, wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her tight. His chest was pressed up against hers, warm and solid and moving steadily with each breath.
Deep breaths, in and out.
Balance yourself.
His fingers gently traced the corners of her eyes. She didn't squeak this time.
"Been pushing yourself to the limit, huh? You Hyuuga are so uptight about your training."
He pulled back a little to examine her face closely, eyebrows scrunching in that familiar look of concentration that she last seen on a bronze figure.
A silence descended upon them, deep and full. Hinata was content to hold him and feel the soothing rhythm of his breath. Now that she looked around, she had no idea where she was supposed to be. The air shimmered, and sometimes she would glimpse a thick morning mist that blanketed some place filled with greenery, sometimes a rocky formation that resembled the face of the Yondaime, sometimes a low counter and cracked stools and vats of mouthwatering broth.
"This place is wherever you want it to be," he said as if reading her mind. Then again, maybe he could. He did say that it was all in her eyes. "You almost died, coughing out those sunflowers. That's why I can speak to you, you know. Because your chakra combined with mine. A bit of me within you."
Her head reeled.
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. The action made her blink back to earth.
"Naruto-kun?" Her voice was choked and croaky, as though a final petal were waiting to escape from her mouth.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
The one she wanted to protect stilled.
"You know, I'm tired of hearing that from you of all people, Hinata," he said, taking one good long look at her face and scowling.
Her heart stopped for the split second of a split second.
She supposed she should have expected this. It still hurt, though. Not like the sharp piercing of a blade against flesh. It was like a large, slow projectile racing towards her, and knowing that she should get out of the way, but finding her legs stuck firmly to the ground. It was like a dull thud and a scolding voice in her mind. Of course he was disappointed in her. The one person she never wanted to disappoint. Because he'd never disappointed her.
His voice broke into her thoughts again, the voice of the one who was always protecting her instead.
"I mean, you showed up out of nowhere and saved me from Pain, bein' all heroic, and you're telling me that you're sorry? Seriously? After saving my life?"
"W-what?"
"You heard me!" He peeled her off of him, crossed his arms, and puffed out his cheeks, looking for all the world like an enraged kitten. An endearing expression in another time, another world. The world of before, not after. "I'm sick of hearing you say sorry. Every day and every night. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Even at my grave. I mean, the way you talk, someone would think you were guilty of manslaughter or something. You live in a fantasy world, Hinata, one where you can see everyone clearly except yourself, ya know? Saying sorry when you didn't even do anything wrong!"
"But – "
"But nothing," Naruto said. "I never want to hear you say sorry to me again. Don't do that to yourself anymore. Okay?"
She stared at the grass that had momentarily taken root on the ground.
Why are you doing this to yourself?
"Okay?" His voice softened. His arms wrapped around her again, and she found herself nesting her chin against his shoulder. "I know you didn't listen to everyone else, but maybe you'll listen to me."
"I...I'm sorry...I mean, I'm sorry that I'm sorry. But I just..."
"Just what?" he prompted, still in that soft voice.
"After...after the war, when I saw you, and you saw me, I...I thought...I just thought..."
He waited patiently for her to finish. He was waiting for her, even now. Just like she'd asked him to, back at his grave.
"I was so close to the thing I sought. I...I really wanted to spend forever with you, at your side."
"Just you and me and some ramen, right?"
"R-right." Crystal tears veiled her world again.
"Who said you couldn't? Did you make up that rule out of thin air, Hinata?"
He mystified her, said things to her that made no sense at all. He was dead. How could she possibly eat ramen with him again?
He sighed, wiping off her tears with his sleeve and then moving to wipe her nose full of snot. This time, she did squeak, horrified.
"Hey. You know that my dream was to become Hokage, right?"
"Right."
"I wanted people to pay attention to me, acknowledge me at last. Because no one had ever done that before. And then, when I grew up, I realized that...well, someone told me this too...it isn't that one becomes Hokage to be acknowledged. Only those who are already acknowledged ever become Hokage." He chuckled. "And during my missions, during the war, fighting the Akatsuki, I found the real meaning of Hokage. The way of Naruto. When there's someone precious you want to protect, that's when you truly become strong. Another smart guy helped me realize that. And when there's someone precious you want to protect, you don't let anyone step over their corpse. I think you already know that, so I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself."
The words rang in her head like deja vu.
Forgive me if you've heard this before.
"But you know, I'm sure we could all use a refresher once in a while. Back to the basics, right? Didn't you tell your cousin that you need to practice your fundamentals? What are your fundamentals, Hinata?"
"Um..."
"I can't hear you." He craned his ear towards her, slowly and theatrically. She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled from her mouth.
"C'mon, Hinata, what are your fundamentals?"
"I never go back on my word," she said quietly. "Because that's my ninja way."
"Yeah." His voice was tinged with fondness blended with melancholy. That which humans called nostalgia. "It's the same for me. And as long as we both have that...I think you can find me by your side."
Because they had the same ninja way.
"All right."
She met his crinkling eye.
He met hers.
She didn't turn away, though. This time, she decided to lift her chin, tilt her head, and gaze directly into his face, looking straight ahead, just as he always did.
"Naruto-kun?" she finally said. "Thank you for waiting for me."
"I'll always wait for you, Hinata."
"Why?" The question slipped from her unguarded mind and fluttered into the breeze.
"Because..."
"Because?"
"Well, because I..." He paused for a moment, then stretched his hands out.
Hinata's confusion spiked. Why was he reaching his hands out? Was there a fly he needed to bat away?
Her train of thought abruptly derailed as he caught her face in his hands.
"Because..."
And then her brain stopped working, for he swooped down and kissed her squarely on the lips.
Miso ramen with an extra helping of naruto. That was what he tasted like.
As soon as it began, it ended, Naruto pulling away and staring sheepishly at the ground, his face as red as cherries.
"Uh...sorry about that, Hinata. I just – "
She impatiently caught his lips again, closing the distance between them once more.
"Don't say sorry."
Those few seconds seemed to last forever and a day, just as when the sky and sea fused together and spun off into infinity.
"Anyway..." He cleared his throat, face still glowing like the sun. As though he were the one coughing up sunflowers.
"I'll always wait for you, Hinata. Because I love you."
Because I love you.
Hinata smiled, and somewhere deep in her veins, in her racing heart, the sunflowers melted back into oblivion.
"Now, I think you'll be waking up soon," he said, beaming at her with the smile that unfailingly saved her. "Don't worry, I'll always be there with you. So don't get down on yourself, you're strong. Get out there and live. I better not see you again until it's been a hundred years and you're all old and grey."
Her vision turned supernova bright before fading at the edges, before she blinked and he was gone.
A lone sunflower petal floated down into her hands. She smiled and tucked it into her pocket.
I'll always wait for you.
"This report makes no sense," Sakura grumbled, pacing around the pathology lab, looking for all the world like she wished to tear her hair out. "I mean, first, you had chlorophyll in your blood, and then we found out that you had an obscure illness with no known cure, an illness which made you puke up flowers, and then Tsunade-shishou and Kakashi-sensei let you go on a mission anyway, and then you passed out during that mission, and now you're...perfectly fine?"
Hinata hid a smile in her sleeve.
The two Hokage didn't seem remotely surprised that this had happened. Actually, they had exchanged an amused look.
"Her too, huh?" the Godaime had asked, flicking through paperwork. "Wow, we have to find out exactly how many people have spoken to the dead. For you, it was Obito, for me, it was Dan, and now it's Naruto for Hinata. Hmmm."
"Well, we certainly won the bet...although this is quite a lot of paperwork to be sending off to Gaara-kun."
Kakashi-sensei winked at Hinata, his face barely visible under his mask and Icha Icha Tactics.
"Well, Hinata, I'll see you next Monday. These A-ranks don't complete themselves. Until then, enjoy your weekend."
"Urgh," Sakura groaned. "I can't deal with this on an empty stomach. Hinata, want to come with me for lunch?"
She smiled again.
"I'd like that, Sakura-san."
Perhaps they could meet up with Iruka-sensei too. A bowl of miso ramen, extra large, with the most popular topping in Ichiraku.
He'd be pleased with that.
A/N: Lunulae - those white half-moons that are on fingernails (and toenails, I guess). I suppose I could have written "half-moons" or "little moons" or "crescents" or something, but "lunulae" sounds so cool, you know? I like Latin.
I think this story has come full circle. I hope this was nice without being too melodramatic. I did want it to have a happy ending, after all. There will be one last chapter - a conclusion, and then it will be complete. In the meantime, tell me what you think! :)
